Thomas County cat. [volume] (Colby, Kan.) 1885-1891, 1887-07-07

which caused them to sneeze and make
exceedingly amusing wry faces.
Both of these horses are great favor
ties, particularly the older one, whose
funny tricks have established him in
the light of privileged character. and
the high respect in which he is held by
his owners is shown by the fact that
they have named one of their best
mines 1.-The Old Dick
One day last autumn. miner. whose
home is in an adjoining county. and
who lives alone in a small cabin situ-
ated in the foot hills. several miles
from his nearest neighbor, reached
home about dusk from an extended
prospecting tour, almost worn out and
sick. He removed the saddle and
bride from his horse and threw him
self down upon his cot and soon fell
into restless slumber, from which he
awoke late in the night with raging
fever. Almost delirious, he knew not
what to do, being alone and without
medicines. 1t might happen that
some neighbor would pass in the MORN
ing, but there was no certainty that
any person would call for days or pos
sibly weeks.
A realization of his hopeless condi-
ton aggravated his disease, and the
poor man grew worse. Morning came.
and he was unable to leave his bed
His horse, his one faithful friend and
companion, could be heard near by.
evidently waiting for his coming. All
day long the animal remained within
hearing distance. and during the long.
tedious hours of the second light could
be heard moving about with restless
tread, rs though conscious that some
misfortune had bcfallen his master.
Daylight appeared at last. and the sick
man made an effort to speak. The
horse, hearing the welcome voice.
went to the door of the cabin. and
pushing it open, thrust his head into
the sick mans presence, at the same
time giving 4 low whinny. as much as
to say: ''What is the matter?' to which
kindly inquiry there was no response
save a moan of distress.
For moment or two the horse
stared strangely about. seemingly be-
wildered, then quickly withdrew. and
galloped rapidly away. As the sound
of the horses feet died away. the sick
man felt as though his only friend and
means of relief were now lost to him.
and he shuddered at the thought that
he mi ht fall into that never-waking
sleep before any person could know
that he was ill.
The nearest neighbor of the sick
man was ranchman, whose home was
located on the river about six miles
distant. Once in awhile this neighbor
rode over to the miners camp for a
short visit; but these trips were made
at irregular intervals, and there was
no certainty when he would be there
again.
The ranchman, on the river, had fin
ished his breakfast and was just COM
ing out of his house, when his atten-
coming down the mountain road at
tremendous gallop. The horse did
not slacken his speed until he reached
the corral, or Enclosure, near the house
He was flecked with foam and short of
breath, showing that he had come
from distance and at unusual speed.
The ranchman, knowing the horse.
spoke to him gently. which the animal
acknowledged by 4 loud whinny, at
the same time running restlessly up
and down the road by the corral. The
ranchman approached the horse.
which, however. would not suffer itself
to be captured, but galloped off
toward its home, stopping at a short
distance. and looking back with evil
dent anxiety. The ranchman re-
turned to the corral. when the horse
again galloped down the road, and
moved uneasily about, as if deter
mined to attract attention, whinnying
and occasionally giving loud snort,
as though frightened. Another at
tempt to capture the horse, which.
usually. YVES a very gentle creature.
succeeded no better than the first, the
animal avoiding the man in a manner
hitherto unknown. The horse ran up
the road again, and called to the man
to follow-called to him by every
dumb sign. almost as plainly as
though he were possessed of the power
of speech.
These unusual proceedings so i'm
pressed the ranchman that he felt that
something was wrong. Could it be
that Galena Georges the miner and
owner of the horse was called-had
met with some mishap? May be he
had been murdered in his lonely cabin
by ''rustlers," or had accidentally
fallen into the shaft of his mine with
out means of escape.
The strange conduct of the horse in
Dictated that something unusual had
happened, and that was enough to
prompt the ranchman to speedy action.
Calling one of his assistants, the men
quickly Saddled two of the hest horses